


Call Me Maybe?

by Diaryofanarcissisticgayman



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: And Zayn and Louis are a bit too into their friends' personal lives, Harry is a bit pathetic, M/M, Niall is precious and just slightly oblivious, Zayn in particular, he's very invested in the romantic comedy playing out in front of him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-17
Updated: 2015-02-17
Packaged: 2018-03-13 08:59:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3375569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diaryofanarcissisticgayman/pseuds/Diaryofanarcissisticgayman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s not healthy. Harry is more than willing and able to admit that. It’s also not cheap. Each phone he buys is getting progressively older, and pretty soon Harry’s going to end up with an empty savings account and a mobile the size of his arm, and twice as strong. That said, it’s totally worth it. Every time Niall crinkles his nose up in a laugh at one of Harry’s jokes, every time the blond smiles when Harry walks up to the desk, every time their fingers brush as they exchange Harry’s mobile. All of that is totally worth a few (not so) accidentally broken mobiles.</p><p>for the prompt: "I've been breaking my phone on purpose just because you work at the help desk at the phone store" au where Harry is sort of obsessed with the blonde at the counter and Niall can't understand why the other goes through so many phones (asked out on valentines day perhaps??)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Call Me Maybe?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [YoungBunny](https://archiveofourown.org/users/YoungBunny/gifts).



> I really hope this is good. I wrote it faster than I'd have liked to, but I gave it my best effort. I read the prompt and I was actually jealous that I hadn't come up with it myself. This was really fun to write though, so thank you for giving me such a good story to tell.

It’s not healthy. Harry is more than willing and able to admit that. It’s also not cheap. Each phone he buys is getting progressively older, and pretty soon Harry’s going to end up with an empty savings account and a mobile the size of his arm, and twice as strong. That said, it’s totally worth it. Every time Niall crinkles his nose up in a laugh at one of Harry’s jokes, every time the blond smiles when Harry walks up to the desk, every time their fingers brush as they exchange Harry’s mobile. All of that is totally worth a few (not so) accidentally broken mobiles.

It started innocently enough, with Harry arguing with Zayn about what they should have for dinner that night. Then a bird flew right in front of his face (if he’s being honest it was nowhere close to him actually. It was several meters away minimum.) and startled him so badly that his mobile went flying into traffic. Several minutes of crunching later, he’d needed a new mobile and better reflexes. Actually, he’d always needed better reflexes, but the mobile was the more pressing concern. It was his calender, his alarm clock, and sole means of communication with anyone who didn’t live with a ten block radius of him.

So he’d gone to the store nearest his house that fit his phone plan, and gotten in line to have the broken shards of plastic and glass magically (and expensively) turn into a new one. That’s when he met Niall and all of his common sense went out the window. Niall was gorgeous, unconventional, and (best of all) semi-responsive to Harry’s natural tendency to flirt. Unfortunately Harry had walked out having forgotten to ask for Niall’s number, and hadn’t realized it until he got back to the flat that he shared with Zayn over an hour later.

So after several days of careful consideration towards his many options towards remedying the problem, and discussing them at length with his increasingly frustrated flatmate, Zayn finally grabbed Harry’s mobile out of his hands, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it until his leg got tired. The smirk he’d had afterwards was legendary until he’d said “There. Now you have a reason to talk to him.”

Harry was so happy he could have kissed him. He didn’t (because Zayn was already angry and that probably would have ended up with Harry getting his hair pulled), but he could have. So he’d crept back into the store sheepishly, and Niall had helped him through the replacement process yet again, while Harry flirted shamelessly. At the last second though, he chickened out and left without any way of contacting the blond for a second time.

Cut to three phones later, and (an increasingly poor) Harry walking into the O2 three blocks over from his flat. “Oh lord, who had Thursday, early afternoon?” Niall laughs, spotting Harry the second he’s through the double doors.

“That’d be me!” Niall’s manager, whom Harry has learned is named Liam, pipes up with a proud grin. “Cheers mate.”

“You’re late.” Niall huffs when Harry makes it over to his station.

“I’m- sorry?” Harry says nervously, intensely confused as to what’s going on anymore.

“You should have been here this morning. I’d be a boatload richer.” Niall laughs.

“I don’t- Wait, are you betting on how long it takes me to destroy my mobile?” Harry asks incredulously.

“Among other things.” Niall smirks. “We’ve got a couple office pools going at any given time here, just to keep things interesting. We also have one going on which blatant lie you’re going to tell about what happened to cover up for the fact that you’re a walking disaster when it comes to these things.”

“A bear got it.” Harry grins, placing the remnants of his phone out on the counter in front of him. “Came into the bakery, mauled everyone else besides me, and then tried to play angry birds and crushed the poor thing. It was all very tragic.”

“Yes!” Niall whoops, throwing his arms up over his head triumphantly. “You all fuckin heard him! He went with animal! I win! In your faces!”

“Mate, it’d be appreciated if you didn’t let the leprechaun win anymore. He’s a bit of a terror when he does.” Louis, another of Niall’s coworkers, says to Harry as Niall runs around the store, sticking his tongue out at each of the other employees in turn. “Never learned how to be gracious I reckon.”

“That’s fine with me.” Harry says with a soft smile, his eyes fixed fondly on the blond as he finishes his circuit. Louis slinks away just as Niall shows back up, probably to avoid a second helping of smugness, which leaves Harry alone with him. “So, what have you got for me today Nialler?”

“What have I got? A recommendation that you live in a plastic bubble. This is getting ridiculous Mr. Styles.” Niall sighs.

“I’ve told you, call me Harry.” Harry mumbles shyly. Flirting has pretty much gone out the window in favor of polite conversation where Harry tries to subtly learn anything he can about the blond. It’s a bit pathetic how whipped he’s getting. “I’m younger than you.”

“You still have to say it.” Niall shrugs. “My manager would kill me if he thought I was being rude and just calling you by your first name. I mean, he wouldn’t because he’s a total softy, but he could give me a bad evaluation which would mean I don’t get a raise.”

“You just ran up to him and shook your bum in his face.” Harry points out. “Isn’t that a bit worse than just calling me Harry?”

“Nah, most of us get that way when we win the pool. Tommo tell you I’m unbearable when I do or summat?” Niall asks.

“I believe he said you were ‘a bit of a terror’ actually.” Harry chuckles.

“Yeah, well he threw take-away all over Liam when he found out he won once.” Niall says, a short, non-serious glare aimed at the skinny brunet pretending not to pay attention across the store. Harry’s the only customer in there right now, so the rest of the staff is trying to look busy without actually doing anything. It’s pretty typical as far as Harry has learned. “So what are you looking for this time? And can I recommend a good strong case?”

“You can, but you know I’m not going to take it. Ridiculously marked up they are. I’m onto the scam.” Harry laughs, bending over to lean on his elbows to bring him more level with the blond. “Question is, what would you like me to walk away with?”

“Some coordination and the world’s first unbreakable phone.” Niall snorts. It wouldn’t be attractive on anyone else, but it really is on him. “We’ve got a deal running on the A5. Forty pounds up front, and the rest is added to your bill at the tidy sum of twenty-eight pounds a month. Which makes, what, two hundred extra pounds you’re paying now, per month, for phones you don’t even still have, just because you don’t want to pay for a case?”

“I like living on the edge.” Harry smirks.

“The edge of poverty.” Niall mutters, pulling something up on his screen. He shows Harry a rather large number and says “On the path you’re on, this is what you’ll pay over the next twenty four months for your service and the extra mobiles.”

“Holy crap.” Harry gasps, blinking rapidly to try and see if he’s just imagining the number.

“But I like you. You’re funny and you made me an arse-ton of money with that bear thing, so here’s what I’m going to do for you.” Niall whispers, leaning in with a wide grin. “I’m going to cheat. I’m going to delete the records of the last four phones you’ve gotten so that it gets taken off your bills. But you have to buy a damn case.”

“Do you have something in purple?” Harry asks weakly.

 

“You’re a lunatic with a lucky streak a mile wide.” Zayn scowls. “Five thousand extra pounds Harry? That’s- That’s crazy! That’s a quarter of what you make in a year! You’re going to go bust stalking this bloke.”

“I’m not stalking him.” Harry pouts, laying back on the couch and throwing his arm over his eyes dramatically. “And you’re the one that started it. I had other plans, but no! You said they were stupid and then had a tantrum on top of my iPhone.”

“Your best plan was to hope he randomly stumbled into the bakery where you worked and asked you out on a date because you’re a wimp.” Zayn huffs, wandering over and dropping down to sit on Harry’s stomach. “You just need to ask him out on a date. No breaking your phone beforehand, no chickening out at the last minute, just ask him and be done with it.”

“What if he says no?” Harry asks. “Then I’ll have to go to a completely different store to replace my phone if it breaks.”

“The bloke cleared five thousand pounds of future debt from your account Harry. Pretty sure he’s going to say yes.” Zayn scoffs.

“He did that because I earned him a couple hundred pounds, and because he thinks I’m a pathetic, uncoordinated moron.” Harry whines. “He took pity on me. That doesn’t mean he wants to snog my face off like I do his.”

“Then find another boy to stalk.” Zayn offers. “Preferably someone cheaper, because I’m not covering your half of rent again. You’re not that cute.”

“Yes I am!” Harry pouts again. “I’m super cute. I’m the cutest ever.”

“You’re not even the cutest person in this apartment.” Zayn laughs.

“You’re not cute. Sexy, but not cute. It’s a very different thing. They can coincide. They don’t with you, but they can.” Harry argues. “For instance, Niall is cute and sexy. I’m cute and sexy. Liam, Niall’s manager, he’s cute and sexy. You’re just sexy.”

“Stop saying sexy. It’s not even a word anymore.” Zayn huffs. “And I’m plenty cute.”

“No, you try too hard.” Harry grins. “You have the hair, and the bad-ass clothes, and all the tattoos. It’s great, but it’s not actually cute.”

“You’re such a jerk.” Zayn grumbles.

“A cute jerk.” Harry giggles.

“I hope he turns you down.” Zayn says with a glare. “You don’t deserve a date with the cute guy who saved you from financial ruin.”

“Hey!” Harry whines. “If he turns me down, then all I’ll have to do is sit around here and nurse my wounds by talking at you constantly.”

“Oh god, I take it back.” Zayn laughs. “Date him forever. Spend all your time talking to him instead. Snog his face off.”

“So- What should I do?” Harry asks.

“Tomorrow go in and just ask him out.” Zayn tells him. “If half of what you’ve told me is true, then you two would be good together. And maybe you’ll stop being a pathetic mess all the time.”

“He’s going to say yes, right?” Harry asks quietly.

“If he doesn’t, then we’re switching service carriers to spite him.” Zayn replies with a soft smile that he reserves for when Harry gets too stuck inside his own head. He won’t actually straight up say it, but Zayn cares about Harry and his happiness, and he’ll do anything he can to help when the chips are down. “Don’t worry Harry. I have a feeling he’ll say yes, and you two will be stupid and cute together very soon.”

“Thanks Zayn.” Harry says, wrapping his arms in a grateful hug around his friend’s waist. “Now get off my stomach. Your arse is bony.”

 

“It’s been one day!” Louis cackles when Harry walks into the store the following day. “How? Just how do you do it? That case is supposed to be able to handle anything! Are you secretly a superhero, and you keep accidentally crushing them with your strength”

“No. I um- Is Niall here?” Harry asks nervously. He can’t see the blond anywhere, and there’s a girl at his normal station.

“Nope. I think him and Liam are out at lunch together right now or something.” Louis titters. “Blondie isn’t the only one who can help you with a new phone though.”

“My phone is fine.” Harry sighs. “Never mind. I’ll just go now.”

Niall and Liam. Harry should have known. Liam is attractive, and he’s particularly nice to Niall from what Harry has seen. It makes sense. Harry shouldn’t have assumed that Niall was single. On the plus side, it’s nice to know that he wasn’t barking up the wrong tree sexuality-wise. It’s always a gamble when you meet somewhere neutral like this.

“They’re not together you know.” Louis calls after Harry when he starts to walk out the door. “Niall and Liam, they’re not together. They’re just mates.”

“Oh?” Harry asks. “I mean, I didn’t ask that, but thanks for the info I guess.”

“Listen Curly, it’s fairly obvious you like our Nialler.” Louis grins. “Nobody can actually go through five mobiles in a month, or flirt like you do with him and not be interested. Do you want me to give you his number? I’m fairly sure he wouldn’t mind.”

“No, that’s alright. It’s a bit creepy to do that.” Harry says quietly. “Is he coming back today?”

“Nope. He had a half day. But he’ll be in tomorrow if you want to come back.” Louis offers.

“Yeah, alright.” Harry nods.

 

“So?” Zayn grins when he walks in. “How did it go? Did he say yes, or do I have to find a new service carrier? He said yes, right? Tell me I’m right. I really love it when you say those words. Come on, say it.”

“It wouldn’t be the truth.” Harry sighs.

“You’re naked.” Zayn remarks with an arched brow. “You’re naked and you have ice cream. Oh god. So he turned you down then?”

“Not exactly.” Harry admits. “He wasn’t there.”

“Then why are you in rejection mode?” Zayn asks, dropping down on the couch next to Harry and stealing his spoon. “I haven’t seen you like this since your last breakup, not that I’m complaining. You’re naked far too much already.”

“I am wearing underwear.” Harry huffs, pointing at his briefs. “Listened to you bitch enough about how you don’t need to see my arse. Don’t need another lecture on proper flatmate conduct from the bloke who blasts Drake at three in the morning when he drinks, you hypocritical bastard.”

“Hey, just because you aren’t snogging your bloke doesn’t mean that you get to be angry at me. I’ve been nothing but nice to you today.” Zayn grins.

“You stole my toast when you left for work.” Harry reminds him. “And my tea.”

“I meant since I’ve been home.” Zayn hums, stealing another spoonful of Harry’s mostly melted rocky road. It felt appropriate at the time, but it’s been thoroughly unsatisfying. He should have gone with the mint chocolate chunk, but he was feeling particularly dramatic at the time. He has to go for a whole extra day without Niall in his life now, and that was definitely worthy of ice cream and sad music and partial nudity in Harry's book.

“You mean the last two minutes. I suppose that’s not inaccurate.” Harry sighs.

“So are you going to ask him tomorrow then?” Zayn asks.

“I don’t know.” Harry shrugs. “Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. That’s a bit soppy, innit?”

“Like that has ever stopped you before.” Zayn laughs. “Besides, it would make a cute story. If you ignore all the pining and stalking that is. That’s a bit creepy.”

“It’s not stalking!” Harry groans, dropping his head against Zayn’s shoulder. “Two of those times I genuinely needed a new mobile. And it’s not as if I’ve been following him around. One of his coworkers even offered to give me his number today, but I didn’t take it, because that would be inappropriate.”

“I know for a fact that you don’t give two figs about appropriate.” Zayn chuckles. “You’re the least appropriate person I know. When we met-”

“I remember. I was there.” Harry huffs, burying his face in Zayn’s neck to hide his embarrassed flush. “How was I supposed to know you were straight? You had that stupid blonde swoosh in your quiff, and you were wearing leather pants. It’s the gayest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“I was with my girlfriend.” Zayn laughs.

“Not when I came up to you. It’s not fair to expect me to read the signs when I’m half smashed and you’re standing around alone.” Harry pouts.

“I suppose. You’ve never really been good at it anyways.” Zayn shrugs with the other shoulder to keep from hitting Harry in the face. “For example, Niall clearly likes you back, but you haven’t asked him out yet.”

“I tried, and how would you even know that he likes me?” Harry asks. “The only thing you’ve done so far is destroy my mobile.”

“Not exactly.” Zayn says sheepishly.

“Zayn-” Harry says icily. “What does that mean?”

“After the fourth one I kind of went in to see for myself what has you so riled up about this bloke.” Zayn mumbles.

“You did not!” Harry gasps.

“I did. I said I was looking for a case for a friend of mine, because he’s a bit of a klutz, and then he started telling me all about you and your ‘accidents’.” Zayn explains, shrinking back under Harry’s glare. “And the whole time, he had this huge smile on his face while he talked about it, which was for, like, twenty minutes by the way. Then the little bloke, Louis? He came up and told me ‘You’ll have to forgive Niall. He has his head up in some brown curly clouds.’ It was all sickeningly cute.”

“And you didn’t tell me any of this because?” Harry asks.

“Because I was hoping that you’d just gather your balls up and ask him out. It’s not the same if I tell you he likes you. It’s not as exciting.” Zayn mutters.

“You realize you’ve basically made this into a romantic comedy in your head, right?” Harry asks, rolling his eyes.

“Well it’s your fault. Always playing your bloody films out here instead of in your room.” Zayn huffs. “So, what are you going to do about it?”

“Point out that you’re the stalker.” Harry grins. “That’s just about the creepiest thing I’ve ever heard. But it’s also the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

He wraps Zayn up in a tight hug, pressing kisses over his cheeks just to annoy him. “Thank you.” he smiles, nuzzling his face into Zayn’s cheek. “Thank you for being my creepy best friend.”

 

The box in his hands feels heavier than it should. Harry might have gone a little overboard on the toppings, but he wasn’t sure what Niall would like, so he added everything that sounded good. He sees Niall before the blond sees him, but he’s with another customer, so Harry stands around patiently, and definitely doesn’t hide behind a display stand with a massive cupcake in a box that reads ‘Will you be my Valentine?’. If one happens to find it’s way between him and the blond, then that isn’t Harry’s fault.

“You actually came.” Louis grins, popping up out of nowhere and nearly giving Harry a heart attack. “What’s in the bakery box?”

“Nothing for you.” Harry tells him, clutching the bright pink package to his chest carefully, so as not to jostle it.

“Oh! It’s for our Nialler then.” Louis beams. “Excellent. He loves food. That’s an excellent choice.”

“I didn’t say that. I work at a bakery.” Harry mumbles.

“Oh, don’t get all shy. You’ll chicken out again if you get too nervous now.” Louis says quietly. Harry’s eyes dart over to Niall to make sure he’s still with the customer, but the blond has disappeared. Louis pulls Harry’s focus back to himself though when he adds “If you ask him out today, then I win the pool.”

“Are all your bets centered around me?” Harry asks with a groan.

“Not all of them.” a familiar voice giggles behind him. “Just the most profitable ones. I’ll take over here Tommo.”

“Sure thing.” Louis grins, flitting off quick as a rabbit to find something to do, and leaving Harry to turn around and face Niall alone.

“So even the case couldn’t keep it safe. I should have known.” Niall says with a bright smile. “Lucky for you, we’re running a very special Valentine’s Day deal. Preferred customers only though, so keep it quiet.”

“I- My-” Harry stammers, suddenly unable to form words properly. Of course he’d be stricken stupid just when he finally has the courage to finally ask Niall out.

“You see, if you buy anything in the store, anything at all, then you get a date with one of our customer service representatives as a bonus.” Niall tells him, stepping closer.

“Which one?” Harry asks.

“Well that’s a secret, but I’ll tell you about him anyways.” Niall chuckles. “He’s blond, and a bit shorter than you, and has had a big crush on you since you first came in here with that bunch of plastic that used to be a mobile. And he programmed his number into your newest phone the last time that you were in here.”

“He did?” Harry questions, his eyebrows shooting into his hairline.

“Yes, but he didn’t tell you, so he can hardly blame you for not calling so far. Especially when you apparently managed to break yet another phone. One might think you were doing it on purpose.” Niall smirks, taking another step so that him and Harry are only separated by the bakery box.

“My phone is still in one piece.” Harry admits sheepishly. “I actually came here to talk to someone.”

“Oh.” Niall sighs.

“But you should tell me more about this special.” Harry grins. “Because I’m very interested in it. Now is it possible to get the bonus if I just buy, say, screen protectors or something?”

“I’ll cut you a special deal.” Niall beams. “Act now, and you don’t have to buy anything at all, but I’ll still throw in the bonus.”

“I’d be a fool to pass up on that.” Harry laughs. “I’ll take it.”

“Excellent choice Mr. Styles. Now that that’s settled, what smells so good?” Niall asks, peering down at Harry’s gift.

“I uh- I brought you something.” Harry mumbles, placing the box in Niall’s hands. “I didn’t think you’d be the one to finally make the first move.”

“Had to take a chance before you didn’t have any money left to buy me dinner, didn’t I?” Niall giggles. “The way you go through mobiles, you’ll be broke in a few weeks.”

“I’m pretty sure that won’t be a problem anymore.” Harry smiles. “A very cute bloke convinced me to get a protective case, and there’s a very important number in there for me to keep safe.”


End file.
